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Bellingham committee recommends awarding contract for new Whatcom 911 center
Summary
The Public Works & Natural Resources Committee voted unanimously to recommend awarding a contract for the Whatcom 9-1-1 emergency communications center (project EF183, bid number 59BDash2025). Staff said construction will begin in early spring with the new center operational in summer 2027; the transcript contains garbled bid figures and the exact dollar amount was not specified.
The Public Works & Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 9 recommended that the city award a contract to build a new Whatcom 9-1-1 emergency communications center.
Councilmember Lilloquist introduced the item as project EF183, bid number 59BDash2025, and said the city publicly opened eight bids. Joel Funt, the city’s public works director, told the committee the project has been “a long time in coming” and said the city secured some state legislative grant funding to help pay for the work. “We’re really looking forward to having a new home for all of our operators out there,” Funt said. He said construction is anticipated to begin in early spring and the new building should be operational in the summer of 2027, at which point the existing building will be demolished.
Carol Rothkar of Public Works said the one-year-ish schedule reflects the complexity of the site and the need to keep the existing 9-1-1 center operating during construction: “The operation of the current 9-1-1 center needs to be steady throughout the entire project. So there is a little bit of more care that needs to take place around the existing facilities…”
Councilmember Lisa Anderson asked whether demolition and landscaping are included in the contract; staff confirmed they are included. Anderson moved approval of the recommendation; the chair called for voice votes and said he would bring a unanimous recommendation to the full council.
The packet and the committee presentation identified Colacrucio Brothers Inc. as the lowest responsive bidder. The numeric bid amount in the verbal transcript appears garbled and could not be reliably read from the record; the exact dollar figure is therefore not specified in this article. The project is listed in the packet as EF183, bid number 59BDash2025, and the city said the contract includes an apprenticeship-hour requirement because of the size of the work.
The committee’s positive recommendation will be forwarded to the full council for final award consideration.
